Author: Mary

Pitter patter, pitter patter the whole night through – rain gently falling. The slightly annoying intermittent buzz of the bilge pump, attempting to keep the engine bay clear of water (we didn’t erect the stern cover when we moored up!) but I fear the engine bay will still need mopping out. The last engineer to inspect our engine went into great detail as to how to repaint the engine bay – (visions of water tanks flew into my mind) and of course R is too tall for the task – although his long dangly arms might come in useful! Not a future job I am looking forward to!

Two long days of travelling and we have reached our winter destination, which is a great relief. Not only have I been concerned about red boards warning, preventing our progress, I have also spent two days slightly nervous that the engine would falter. So far so good – changing the fuel filter was obviously necessary.

The K&A lives up to its reputation of both beauty and toughness. One lock gate took four people to budge. The weirs can be pretty ferocious, not helped by fast flowing streams due to excessive rainfall, so there’s a knack of aiming the bow into the weir and then at the last minute swinging the bow around to enter the lock. Timing is crucial so that you don’t end up side on to the weir or banging the boat into the lock wall. You have to rev up to counter the pace of the water and be ready to reverse sharply when necessary. All pretty hairy, especially when on the boat alone because your other half is working the lock! Add to that the thought of the engine cutting out at a crucial moment – not all boating is relaxing!!

A fisherman had warned us of two very sharp bends between the pub and the first lock, where many a boat comes a cropper. An advantage of 43ft is that you are less likely to get in a pickle but I was grateful for the heads up as we warily set our early on Monday morning. The bends were sharp, alot of the fauna overgrown, with tree branches obscuring the view. I marvelled that any 70ft widebeams would attempt the cut but they obviously do as we saw a few moored up further upstream.

Another anomaly of the K&A is that it still has two of the original turf locks and we went through both. Shoring up the side of the lock with turf was how locks were formed back in the 18th century. A picture tells a story better than words of explanation!

Monday mornings deadline was to be at Sheffield lock, Theale, by 11am, when we would be assisted through, before the lock was closed for an emergency gate repair. Arriving early, we were amazed to be greeted by old Farnham friends, also waiting to go through the lock! They had very recently purchased a narrowboat and as we were heading in the same direction we then spent two days travelling together. Add in to the mix another couple we had invited for the day, who also knew the Farnham friends – it was party time! One of those God-instances I talk about. I felt far more reassured travelling together with another boat as I was still uncertain as to the reliability of the engine. I was also equipped to feed all six of us a picnic lunch, having walked a mile on Sunday morning to both Lidl and Aldi and got carried away by the choice on offer, so bought enough food to last us all week! It nearly all ended up in the river – R had moored the boat so that there was a gap between us and the edge of the bank (this would deter unwelcome visitors!). He didn’t reckon on his wife’s foot slipping and plop, I was in up to my bottom!! A very soggy Mary greeted sister and hubby who had just arrived for Sunday lunch at the pub with us! How fortunate that the day before we had discovered Reading West service station, a twenty minute walk from the boat, where we had used the outside laundrette and the free, very hot showers. A return trip to the laundrette on Sunday negated having to travel with soaked dungarees – apart from the heat of the stove, we have no drying facilities on the boat.

A disadvantage of not knowing how long you will be holed up in one place due to unforeseen circumstances, is the risk of running out of water and as we spent nearly a week outside The Cunning Man pub owing to the weather, this could have become an issue. Most other eventualities can be worked around, but an empty water tank means no ability to wash yourself or flush the lou! We do have 10 litre containers to refill for drinking and we just have to hope there will be a water tap within walking distance or a friendly household willing to fill us up!

The bus stop to Reading was outside the pub so one day we took ourselves there to explore the town and almost walked the journey home as we found ourselves on the wrong road for the returning bus. We also spent a happy couple of hours getting to know the boaters moored up near to us. They have just started out on a gap year, exploring the waterways. It became obvious they were far more seasoned boaters than we had been when we set out after just one week’s previous experience, a decade before! We found both of us had spent the past six months drastically paring down our possessions in preparation for boating life and downsizing our homes. It was reassuring to find others with a similar outlook!

And to finish – we went into the boat of our friends and I admired the circular cushions hooked on the wall, little realising they were porthole covers. The four on our boat I always assumed were cushions – how wrong I was! At last I know their true function, after many a bottom has sat on them and they have blown into the canal a few times!!

I have to tell you one more thing! Just went to a lock as a boat was coming up and I wanted to ask if we could go through the next three locks with them and who should it be but a friend from home I have not seen in over a decade as she moved away. Now living on a boat!! What a small world it is x

Two drowned rats and a cuppasoup, after a long journey that should only have taken four hours! Are we glad to be moored up in the dry,  on the calmer waters of the Kennet & Avon canal,  after  experiencing the Thames, with its swollen river strem. We had hoped to go further up the Thames for another week of cruising,  but the weather forecast put paid to this plan,  as there looks to be heavy rainfall in the next few days.  Once the red boards go up on the Thames,  they can stay there for months, so a boater just has to moor up where they are and wait.  Leaving a boat unattended,  with the water levels rising and falling,  is not a good idea,  so we have taken the sensible course of action and returned to the relative safety of the canals.

Today was fairly stressful,  as I thought it would be.  A loss of confidence in the boat, as the result of a recent breakdown,  leaves one wondering what is in store next.  Travelling along the wide, fast flowing river,  I found myself on the lookout for possible places to moor should the engine stop running! I kept close to the towpath – fortunately the Thames path runs adjacent to the river at this point in the Thames (not always the case), so although the boat view was of dense trees, I soon realised we were not far from help should we need it.  I wasn’t sure how close the nearest road was, in the event of calling out an engineer!

As we turned right,  into the mouth of the K&A, the engine spluttered and died, yet again! R managed to start it briefly, again and again, with me steering as best able, until we reached the lock. Phew. How grateful I was this happened off the Thames. We pulled the boat into the lock and out the otherside and moored up.  There was no alternative than to change the fuel filter ourselves – a daunting task as we’d never done it before,  but with Archer’s voice ringing in our ears, we set about it with gung-ho. Seemingly simple,  the deed done, I turned on the engine and diesel sprayed into the engine bay.  A second attempt was no better.  Incredibly difficult to get the rubber seals correctly positioned. The lock keeper arrived to investigate why we were still moored up. Two further boats moored up, with helpful young men who could advise us but not solve the problem. R decided to give it one last try, pushing the seals into the cut grove as best he could before setting the filter in place.  Bingo! The engine then revved into life (without us needing to do any bleeding – a technical term we heard branded about and wanted nothing to do with!), the diesel no longer leaked out and we were off. 

The K&A is not without its challenges,  one being us getting grounded as we went through the centre of Reading due to a large dumped immovable object under the water.  We had already scooped a large shopping trolley onto our boathook, which was too heavy to lift out of the water,  so another beleaguered boater may well encounter the same obstacle.

Along the K&A, through the traffic light system in the centre of Reading (where sometimes you have to hover for ten minutes waiting for a boat to come through in the opposite direction,  no easy feat on a windy day) and our first lock without lock keepers in attendance (they are courtesy of the Environmental Agency on the Thames). Although only a foot deep,  the lock gates were extremely hard to open because of the volume of water and the over full weir.  The really challenging lock was yet to come – we had been told to get beyond it before we even thought of mooring up for the night.  The canal climbs the Kennet river by putting weirs in place and building locks and canal channels between the weirs to enable boats to pass through. So the boats are still at the mercy of fast flowing water when there has been heavy rainfall and some of the weirs produce strong currents of water which boats have to fight against in order to enter the locks without mishap. Mercifully we managed to navigate safely to the Cunning Man pub, our destination,  but it took much longer than expected and the rain started to fall in abundance ahead of our arrival!

Erecting the stern canopy was almost our first priority – we could then dispense ourselves of our wet gear,  hang it undercover before entering the boat. A big luxury – a previous boat had no such option and wet clothing was a nightmare to cope with.  R lit the stove  and before long, we were as warm as toast. A shortage of fresh food aboard gave us the excuse to relax in the pub and eat a meal prepared by someone else.  Seven hours travel had left us a bit shell shocked.  The good news though – looking at the map we are a twenty minute walk from Reading West services, where there is, among other things,  an M&S food,  an outside laundrette, toilets and free showers! The bare essentials to warm the heart!

PS It’s now Thursday evening and we found our way to the services, so discovered the laundrette! Along our canal path we also found this signpost showing that we are on the pilgrim route to Santiago (Camino), which was of interest to R because he wants to walk part of it in November! He could start now!!

Pps I meant to say R is up to his old tricks of collecting firewood and using me as his packhorse!!

It’s been quite a day but first, a swift look at yesterday. Lord Toad arrived at 11am sharp and we left the pretty town of Marlow and chugged our way upstream, against the water current, with the motor boat roped to the side. Luckily, the locks we encountered easily accommodated the two boats side by side and by mid afternoon we were moored in the picturesque town of Henley on Thames.

We had managed to dodge most of the rain and the sun was shining as we welcomed an old friend from home, who had moved to Henley a few years ago. Her name popped up on my Google map and it was a surprise to see she lived about 100yds from our moored boat. Due to my lack of warning, there was only time to see her for a quick cup of tea. My other thought had been to see her early this morning but she told me she was rowing on the river from 0730 – not bad for a lady in her late sixties. We had just missed seeing her cold water swimming in the river, another hardy pastime! As she left us, my childhood friend and his wife, who live locally, arrived and we had a good catch up session, first in a tearoom and then progressing to one of the many picturesque pubs. An early night called, as today we knew we’d be travelling for at least six hours, which turned out to be seven, on our feet all the time.

Lord Toad wasn’t with us, as we all thought, after our seamless journey yesterday, that we could manage alone. However, we hadn’t taken into account the increased water level, the result of yesterday’s rain coming down the river. I assessed the journey solely through my weather app, which showed a smiley sunny face all day, so at 9am we were up and moving towards the nearby first lock. There was a strong current by the weir which buffeted the two boats towards the left so R was busy telling me to rev the engine, when the lock keeper started gesticulating. This slightly put me off my stride as I wasn’t sure if he was telling us not to proceed forward. However suddenly the lock gates opened so we could enter the lock. He remonstrated with me that our boat was not powerful enough to tow another boat and that it was incorrectly attached. As he was not the senior lock keeper he was stressed by the situation and handed us a ‘yellow card’ basically warning us that the river was dangerous and that we could not proceed with the motorboat attached. Furthermore, we were to leave the boat on the lock mooring, to remove it as soon as possible and that this was our full responsibility. I explained that we were towing it because it had no engine and we were helping another boater. He had no reply to this, just reiterating the boat was our responsibility as he took down our details. When I suggested he noted the name and address of Lord Toad he refused. Another boater, in a beautiful cruiser, who was waiting to come down the lock, heard of the situation and tried to intervene on our behalf, even going as far as to give me his name and telephone number in case we needed a witness in due course. This boater stated that all we had done was a good turn and that the lock keeper was out of order. The lock keeper remained adamant on his view, ordering us to uncouple the boats, leave the motor boat behind and leave the lock as soon as possible, as we were an obstruction. All this I relayed to Lord Toad, who contacted the Thames Authorities, who in turn said the lock keeper had no right to ban us from towing the boat to a ‘place of safety’ as the Thames was on a yellow, not a red warning. The upshot is that they may now tow his boat free of charge to his mooring. So good may come out of it! To be honest, with the change in river conditions, I was relieved not to be towing anything as we battled the current, at times having to increase the revs to 18knots just to proceed forward at a reasonable pace.

All went well until I felt a slight loss in power entering one of the locks. Then after about an hour, the engine cut out as we were passing some houses with private moorings. Trying to restart the engine long enough to moor up proved very tricky but after many false starts we were able to direct the boat into a mooring space, with quite an audience of onlookers! Unsure as to why the engine was cutting out, I was loathe to go on. We checked the weed hatch, which was clear of any debris and after ten minutes restarted the engine, which ran as per usual, so we ventured forth once again. The next lock was fairly close and then our destination was only another half an hour of travel, so I kept close to the Thames path side of the river in the hopes that should we break down, we could easily reach the river bank for safety.

Lord Toad’s able mechanic Ar, who we had met when he had been in charge of the motor boat, happened to be nearby and as we moored up at Pangbourne, he miraculously appeared and gave our engine a once over. A dirty fuel filter is the most probable cause of the trouble (once he ascertained there was no fishing line sneakily hooped around the propellor) and he advised us on how to change it – he had a three hour journey ahead of him to his boat in Barking and was keen to get back in daylight to be with his wife, who feels the mooring is unsafe after dark – they have had locals walking on their roof when they have been in the boat! So our next challenge is to change the filter and bleed the engine before we start on our travels again! It’s another reminder that boats have a mind of their own and we can neither get complacent or have too tight a time schedule. Breakdown time needs to be factored in along with weather conditions. It’s all a learning curve!

We’ve really enjoyed spending time in and around Windsor. We had an unexpectedly social day on Sunday, having decided to go to St Peters & St Andrews Church, Old Windsor, because they were celebrating harvest festival, fortuitously followed by a bring and share lunch, to which we were warmly welcomed. There was a lot of cake! In the afternoon the church was holding a fund raising concert with a young Venezuelan opera singer, accompanied by her partner on the piano, who entertained us with songs such as ‘Don’t put your daughter on the stage Mrs Worthington’ and other pieces from all over the world. It was a magical hour of music. There followed more cake and bubbly. A good thing that between the lunch and the concert we walked a section of the Thames path!

First thing Monday we moved the boat to Datchet and were joined early afternoon by four friends who had parked a car in Windsor and then taken a five minute train journey to join us, which then took them an hour to return to by boat! The weather was unusually sunny and warm for this time of year, so we extended the boat trip further up the river, eventually returning to a mooring spot outside the Windsor leisure centre. I anticipated a quick swim followed by a luxurious shower but first we walked with our friends back to their car and discovered how far from the town centre we actually were moored, so once they had gone we moved the boat centrally and the swim never happened! A bridge, no longer open to traffic, separates Eton from Windsor and as we were moored a stones throw from it, the first evening we wandered around Eton, marvelling at the sang froid of the school boys who have to wear such an archaic uniform. Eton itself seems very quaint and quiet compared to the hustle and bustle of tourists flocking Windsor to see the castle and the changing of the guard. Tuesday morning we found ourselves behaving like grockles ourselves, even faintly disappointed that there were no entry tickets available to the Castle. We did however go to the Royal Theatre in the evening to see Blood Brothers. Having no idea of the storyline beforehand, I found myself unexpectedly choked with emotion as I thought it was going to be a light hearted musical!

Today the weather has broken, unsurprising as I heard rain lightly falling throughout most of the night. From about 5am the noise that the geese made outside our boat was comparable to the noisiest of car traffic – I didn’t get much of a lie-in. The mess on our boat also testifies to how many of them flocked around us. It is no easy feat removing guano from the fabric of our outside covers!

The early rise enabled us to get moving, initially through constant drizzle. No such thing as bad weather – we donned our waterproofs and were grateful that it was windless. Six hours, 5 big Thames locks later, we arrived in Marlow, faintly shattered from such a long day’s cruising, constantly on our feet. We have become very soft, usually only journeying a maximum of three hours every other day! We decided to do a full days cruising as the forecast for tomorrow is inclement and as we plan to meet up with an old childhood friend of mine, who lives near Henley, we needed to break the back of the journey today.

We have inadvertently become a river rescue service! Shortly before the lock at Marlow we passed a motor cruiser, in itself a surprise as they can travel far quicker than we can! It was obvious they were in need of assistance because of the tied on engine at the stern and a guy balanced on a bit of plyboard, chugging the boat along whilst another man was at the helm. They smiled and said they were OK, just having to go very slowly. Having waited at Marlow lock for them to join us, we realised the weir currents proved very problematic for them. On the lock side was another man who turned out to be the owner of the beleaguered boat. We offered to tow the boat into Marlow as there was another weir en route, which might also prove tricky for them. The long and the short of it is that we are now going to tow them to their destination, Pangbourne, because we are headed there in any event, our timing just might have been a bit slower.

Lord Toad, as he is known to his friends, the owner of the cruiser is a boat builder. He has just won a tender to buy and restore an old boat owned by one of the Oxford colleges that is in a terrible state of disrepair. Nine other boat builders were declined in favour of him and once restored he has plans to use it as a community facility. It even has a stage, so it will be ideal for school theatre productions. The boat itself has a cement hull and weighs nearly 60 tonnes. Of the twenty three that were made for Oxford Colleges, only five or six survive – the rest have rotted away. ‘Lord Toad’ will be joining us tomorrow as we tow his boat. Meanwhile, the other two guys can be released from their rather onerous task of moving the boat along the river at a snails pace!

Just as I get a sign made for the towpath saying what we are about, we seem to attract endless conversations without need of a billboard! The centre of Staines has plenty of mooring, which in turn attracts people to the rivers edge and many are intrigued by the narrowboats. Yesterday, we chatted to a young Japanese couple who are working in the IT industry, living locally. They came aboard to view the inside of the boat and we were amazed at the number of towns and places they have found the time to visit in the previous couple of years, one favourite being the Orkneys. As that is where my grandparents are from, R and I had also had an interesting visit there a few years ago. Our first attempt, on a cruise ship, ended in disappointment because the day we were due to dock in Kirkwall it was too windy to disembark. One couple aboard said that was their third unsuccessful trip! Further discussion with our Japanese guests led to us taking about faith and, as a practising Christian, the young man shared that one of the reasons he feels comfortable living in the UK is due to the fact he can worship freely, whereas he feels Japan is now a more secular country that used to be predominantly Buddhist.

Our other visitors in the day were local friends, as our home town is relatively close by. A pub lunch for 6 was followed by a further couple coming for a short river cruise and supper aboard. I managed to cobble together what I thought was a passable vegetable curry, although R’s comment that ‘there were certainly alot of vegetables’ made me wonder if perhaps something else was lacking!

This morning we took the boat slightly further along the river, where we moored up alongside a busy park with very acceptable public toilets and a park cafe that provided a great cup of coffee. It’s always a surprise where the best coffee comes from. We fell to talking to a delightful man in his 60’s who was happy for me to share some of his story, whilst we shared a cup of tea on a park bench sitting in the warm sunshine. He was fostered as a child, which meant he had food on the table and clothes to wear but he never had any contact with his parents. In his twenties he was baptised and God has been with him through all the ups and downs of his life. He lived in an hotel as the maintenance man for over twenty years, until a couple of years ago when the hotel was sold and the new owners made all the staff redundant. That is when he became homeless and, although he has applied for many jobs, none of them come to anything because he has no address. It’s a chicken and egg situation. I fear his cheerful demeanour masks a lot of suffering, but both R and I were moved by his resilience and determination to put a brave face on his current situation. What he would really like to do is repair narrowboats whilst living on them. There are plenty around on the banks of the canals, but who knows who owns them. They sit quietly rotting away because it is too expensive to have them removed from the water.

We had arranged to meet our friends, M and S, in Runnymede so we continued on our journey through yet another large lock, fortunately being manned by a lock keeper. Our boat seems very small and vulnerable when it is the only vessel in the chamber and we are careful to hold onto both the stern and bow ropes, having learned our lesson in the initial lock we worked on the Thames. R had just held on to the mid rope and the boat violently rocked around because of the force of the water entering the lock, even though the lock keeper did his best to let the water in very slowly.

Moored up on the towpath, alongside some very swanky motorboats, we were impressed to hear our boat name being pronounced perfectly by a man passing by with his two young children. He was originally from Cork and a neighbour had had a house with the same name. The children were fascinated by the boat, so we invited them on board and then when S and M arrived, all of us journeyed up the river and back. It certainly made for a lively trip at the bow end of the boat, whilst S and I chatted amiably in the stern, taking in the beauty of the Thames. The good weather meant the river was very busy with both rowers and gin palaces, the latter inclined to speed past us, leaving a wake behind that jostled us heavily. Once back on dry land, unusually for me, I still felt the ground swaying beneath my feet and no, I hadn’t had a drink!

What a relief! Chertsey lock is behind us. Loads of boats moving fast up and down the river to beat the closure. So, we are back on track for heading to Newbury. I think there’s a tree obstructing the canal en route but hopefully that will be cleared by the time we get there.

Quite a day. Started with the Webasto heating engineer returning at 7am, having yesterday removed and cleaned our heater, replaced it and found it still not to be working. Water in the diesel pipe leading to the pump seems to be the issue. He thought he would need to pump a couple of inches of water from our diesel tank (formed by condensation when the tank is not full), as the water, being heavier than diesel, collects at the bottom. Fortunately on doing this he found very little water in the tank but has concluded that because there is still water in the pipe, the end of the pipe must be lying on the bottom of the diesel tank, where it is not uncommon to have a residual amount of water in any steel tank. His solution is to bend the output pipe away from the floor of the tank, which needs to be largely empty of fuel. As our tank is almost full he either has to suction out the diesel or wait until we’ve travelled long enough to use most of it up. We’ve gone for the second option and we’ll meet him again, I hope, in Newbury at the end of October. An early start to the day, no resolution and no central heating until this is sorted. There’s always something going on with a boat!

Fortunately, due to the early start of our day, our departure to Chertsey lock was not impeded and we arrived in plenty of time to go through the lock with a couple of other boats, one of whom was called ‘Faith’, with an inscription on the side from Psalm 23 ‘He leads me through still waters’. The owners of the boat have a similar outlook to us regarding their mission on the waterways and were very encouraging when they heard that we want to spend time listening and chatting to those we meet. It was a lovely morning encounter and we hope to keep in touch – you never know who you are going to meet next! In our case this lunchtime it was some very happy, albeit a bit foul-mouthed, early in the day drinkers. I noticed the lady drinking straight from a full red wine bottle! We had moored up in the middle of Staines and I was feeling rather guilty that the only spot was right in front of an elderly fisherman. He turned out to be utterly delightful and not at all upset by our arrival – he had just finished a five hour fishing stint. He’d had Parkinson’s for ten years and fishing is his passion. He wasn’t going to let his condition stop him – he was very resilient and he told us not to worry about the drunks – they were harmless, just a bit loud and boisterous, as we found out when one suddenly stripped down to his underpants and leapt down into the river! Ten minutes later there was a commotion as another lad had jumped into the water, but the cold was too much for his system and he was panicking as he struggled to breath. Luckily, his friends quickly retrieved him from the river and I offered him a warming sweet cup of tea, which he gratefully received. R and I went for a rest (as well as our early start we’d had the excitement of a pump out – long overdue. We worked out the last time we emptied the tank was late May! Shows how little we have actually managed to stay aboard this year as the tanks are usually full after a month or so!) and when we awoke all was quiet. We then had to re-erect our stern cover, which the engineer had asked us to fully remove at 7am this morning, as it was taking up all the space in the shower cubicle. As we struggled to do this, R fell to talking to one of the guys who had been around at lunchtime for he wished to apologise to us, on behalf of his friends, for the bad language they had been using!

A walk into the town centre showed us just how closely we are moored to all the shops. I spy a T K Maxx, so tomorrow after doing a laundry run, I know where I’ll be headed! Lidl’s on the doorstep so R treated himself to a chocolate croissant for breakfast and I found a bottle of cherry cordial, which is proving to be delicious! Also picked up some frozen peas – an indulgent pleasure now that we have such a small freezer, one that can only accommodate enough ice for a daily tipple!

We are moored next to a hire boat and when we got chatting to the late middle aged couple, it transpired they were from Newcastle, but with strong ozzie accents, not the one in the UK! They hired the boat with a skipper. He doesn’t stay on board. In the morning he arrives by car, stows his electric bike on the boat roof and cycles back to his car at the end of the day, sometimes as much as twenty miles, contending with inclement weather as well. A great idea if you want a narrowboat holiday but don’t have the confidence or knowledge to operate the boat yourself. They have the luxury of space – over 60ft long, with two bathrooms, including a bath and enough beds for 8 people. I’m still very happy in our cosy 43ft though!

Now on to an episode of Dangerfield, the police doctor, a series from the 1990’s. Another one we missed through not having a TV back in the day. Making up for it now on the boat with our 3″ x 5″ mobile phone screen!

A blog more about bikes than boats today!

We collected Naomhog from the marina after a very special weekend away – a family wedding by the coast, where the sun shone and the champagne flowed. The fish and chip supper was delicious and the home grown DJs with a preselected playlist ensured that the dancing was non stop until the midnight curfew, thanks to the largesse from the understanding neighbours! A brisk walk the next day cleared our heads and if anyone wants a recommendation for an excellent Indian restaurant, look no further, although it’s a bit of a schlep from London.

I always feel slightly apprehensive on departing from a marina. Perhaps because it feels very safe leaving our boat in a mooring. Once we are travelling I am never sure what will happen next. In this instance, it’s the realisation that the Webasto heater on the boat really has packed up. Fortunately, I was given a recommendation of a local marine engineer who arrived early this morning and found the fault, using computerized diagnostics, removed the Webasto and will hopefully return tomorrow having reconditioned and serviced it, replacing the burner. A more economic option than buying a new one. As the model has changed, it would require new pipe fittings and radiators. Ouch – sounds expensive!

Not long after the engineer left, we had visitors to the boat – a nursing friend I trained with over 40 years ago. I remet him on Friday at our nursing reunion (which proved to be a lovely catch-up even though I was useless at remembering anyone either facially or by name. I had to keep asking my friend JH, who was a fount of information, with far better recall than myself). J I did remember, partly because he was the only male in our set. Two started but one fell at the first hurdle! Living now near Kew, he was keen to come and visit us, so I was delighted when he followed this up by coming today with his wife. She and R were very long suffering as J and I had plenty to reminisce about. He chats almost as much as me, so our better halves didn’t get much of a look in. J took to the helm like a duck to water and I realised the Thames is quite good for those new to helming because, for the most part, it’s a wide river with space to manoeuvre. Unlike some of the very narrow canals.

Our day was slightly foreshortened by P, our youngest, needing to be collected from UCH, having had a procedure that required him being accompanied home. J kindly dropped me at a railway station so within a week I found myself twice at my old hunting ground, this time exploring the new hospital (last week I discovered many of the wards I had nursed on are now research labs, UCL having purchased the old hospital building). This is where the blog becomes about trains. P had arrived at UCH by bike this morning but was not in a fit state to ride it home so we pushed it to the nearest tube station. There we were told he could not take it on the tube. It wouldn’t fit on a bus, nor in a taxi and P himself was not up to walking it to Waterloo. So I pushed the bike from Gower St to Waterloo station, across the lovely pedestrian Bridge at Charing Cross with the fantastic view, using the bike like a walking stick! I was very impressed at how, by holding onto the saddle, the front wheel managed to stay in a straight line, so I didn’t mow down too many people heading in my direction.

Meanwhile P took the bus and we arrived at Waterloo at exactly the same time! We needn’t have rushed – South West trains then told us we weren’t allowed to take a non foldable bike on a train until after 7pm, so what to do for two hours with someone who really just needed to lie down and sleep off his sedation. We managed to sneak on a train just before 7pm and were met at the other end by R who kindly walked the bike the half hour journey back to the boat whilst we hopped in a taxi. Lesson learned – be careful where you take your bike. So much for being kind to the environment!!

I think the powers that be decided they couldn’t just shut Chertsey lock when they haven’t even formalised a plan going forward. As far as I can tell, one of the lock gates is broken and a large waterborne crane is needed. The Environmental Agency has decided some boats can go through and fortunately we are one of them! So, 1030 next Thursday, we have our passage booked and we can return to ‘plan A’, hopefully getting on the K&A before the winter maintenance program begins, shutting off yet more locks. So if anyone wants a trip on the river near Shepperton next Tuesday or Wednesday do get in touch because we will be poutling around and happy to have visitors. The great thing about the Thames is that you can turn easily as it’s so wide. The not so good thing is coping with the current as I discovered this afternoon as we took the boat into a berth at a very swanky marina. My jaw dropped at all the amazing motor cruisers we are moored alongside. Attempting to reverse in, our stern canopy (lesson – tuck it away more tightly!) and metal frame got caught on a stationary gin palace’s anchor as we glided a little closely in front of them and one side of our metal frame pinged off. Fortunately that was the only part of the boat we connected with but I had visions of our canopy being irreparable and £££ signs flashing before my eyes. R was much calmer as he realised the metal bar had just popped out of its socket and was easy to fix once he found the correct screwdriver to tighten it up. Phew – no lasting damage done and a lesson taught to me about wind and manoeuvring the boat in choppy waters. A very nice man came to our rescue as he could see my panic – we threw him a rope and he helped moor the boat, fortunately in the correct berth. His boat is a rather large and splendid yacht right opposite Naomhog – she looks rather less sophisticated in comparison. His wife shouted me a friendly greeting to the effect that she had ‘used the same words’ in a tricky situation, which left me wondering just what I had been saying when I thought we’d never get the boat in the mooring without connecting with a few others in the process!!

We’re having trouble getting our Webasto heater to work, a similar problem to when we tried in June and we were given helpful advice from another boater, involving removing a fuse and then replacing it, numerous times until the Webasto fires up! All a bit tricky as the fuse is not well positioned and there’s a risk of dropping it into the engine bay. I think it’s something to do with not having used it over the summer – it likes regular attention! So no central heating for us for the foreseeable. We’ll just have to cook on our portable bbq to get a bit of heat as it’s not cold enough for the boat stove yet to be fired up. On opening the engine bay, beneath the stern floorboards, I was dismayed at how much water had amassed, the result of rain getting through when our stern canopy was left down. I spent a good half hour mopping out the water, another reason I didn’t want a broken canopy over the next few weeks!

We’ve moored in a marina for the weekend as we are off to a family wedding and didn’t want to leave the boat to the mercy of the river currents in case of inclement weather. I’m also going to a nursing reunion tomorrow at UCH (London) – I think it must be a 45 year catch up. I was the class rep and hopeless with names even then so I have no idea who anyone will be, even if I do recognise them! It will be interesting to look around the hospital – coincidentally our son was there last week – some procedure necessary after a bit of a bike accident. It has changed dramatically since my day but I expect it is still connected underground by a maze of rat invested corridors in the basement that pass under all the roads above.

I’m writing this in the marina laundry as my wash is drying. I made R strip off so that everything he was wearing could be washed and then suggested he walk along the outside of the building to the shower block in his towel. Not a good suggestion apparently! I have just had one of the best showers ever. The disabled shower is a wet room with a powerful shower hose and a rose head. I decided my crooked knee warranted me disabled enough to use it – the alternative was a push button, just like we had at our family holiday house, until everyone complained enough for it to be replaced! It’s a bit tricky dragging my knee around, although it is so much better and a stick is only needed on long walks. Tomorrow is a good half hour walk to the railway station. We timed it this afternoon (because we also needed to know the route) and I realise how annoying it is for R to have to walk at my pace and how annoying it is for me!! Oh to be back on the tennis court! Mind you, there’s not much opportunity for tennis on the canals. What I’d really like is a program of knee physio exercises suitable for a canal boat – other boating friends would like back and shoulder ones so if any physio is reading this and can oblige we’d be very grateful!

We met such an interesting man at the pub – well into his seventies, a carpenter by trade but running his own building firm, practising all the trades, commuting from Lands End to London on a regular basis and then periodically to America where he has a couple of properties he is refurbishing. In his twenties he was on the corporate ladder, earning a good salary and likely to be in the city for his entire working life. He fell in love with rock climbing, became a nomadic and has climbed all over the world and is still climbing today. He was an inspiration and for his age, still very fit and agile. You never know who you are going to meet and the story they have to tell.

And to finish, this boat is moored next to ours _ something to aspire to?!